The 9 types of self-esteem (and their characteristics)

It is useless to work in all personal and professional areas of our life without a correct appreciation of ourselves. And it is that, without a doubt, self-esteem is one of the vital pillars not only of our emotional well-being, but of our own existence. Loving ourselves, valuing ourselves and feeling good about ourselves is fundamental.

It should not be surprising, then, that people with a more fragile or damaged self-esteem have problems in many areas of their lives. And this problem inherent in human nature, without a doubt, has become a real social problem as we are living in a digital age where we are continuously seeing a false perfect side of people on social networks.

All this makes, when comparing ourselves with others, it is difficult to maintain a strong self-esteem. But we must work on it. And it is that a correct self-esteem makes us value ourselves, dedicate time to ourselves, make us respect ourselves, be at peace with our “I”, put our own needs before those of others and treat ourselves in a way that preserves our emotional integrity.

But does self-esteem always manifest itself in the same way? No. Not much less. Depending on how we perceive ourselves, self-esteem can take many different manifestations. And in today's article, from the hand of both the most prestigious publications and our team of collaborating psychologists, we are going to inquire about the main types of self-esteem that exist.

What is self esteem?

Self-esteem is the perceptual evaluation that we make of ourselves based on the valuation, appreciation and recognition directed towards our way of being and behaving. Directly related to emotional well-being and a better relationship with our personal and professional life, self-esteem is, without a doubt, one of the most relevant and important factors of our personality.

Recognize our strengths and accept our shortcomings without letting them make us love ourselves less. This is where self-esteem is based. A self-esteem that develops and evolves, being modified throughout our lives due to changes in the environment that surrounds us and how our personality and emotional maturation change. There are many psychological, cultural and social factors that come into play when determining our self-esteem.

In this sense, self-esteem can be understood as the global assessment that we make of ourselves, being based on the set of feelings, thoughts, behaviors and evaluations that are directed towards our way of being, our character, the features of our body and our abilities.

From humanistic psychology, self-esteem is considered an inalienable right of any person, since we all deserve to be esteemed and respected not only by others, but by ourselves. How much do you love yourself and how much do you respect yourself? These are the two key questions to know what your self-esteem is like.

How is self-esteem classified?

Now, despite this simple definition, self-esteem hides many nuances. In fact, it is one of the most confusing and questioned concepts in the history of psychology, which is why it has been necessary to establish a classification of it according to the way we perceive, value, love and respect ourselves. . Therefore, below we are going to see what kinds of self-esteem exist.

1. High and stable self-esteem

High and stable self-esteem is, simply put, ideal self-esteem. It is one in which the person has a solid and positive perception of himself and, in addition, external circumstances and events in his life, no matter how negative, have little or no influence on his self-esteem.

This makes them cope adequately in the face of adversity, without collapsing. It is the most difficult to achieve but the one that offers the greatest emotional well-being. The person is always aware of their worth and abilities, so they feel capable of facing problems in a fully resolutive way.

2. High and unstable self-esteem

High and unstable self-esteem is one in which the person, although he has a solid and positive perception of himself most of the time, is not able to keep it that way always. A) Yes, in the face of negative circumstances and events it is possible that it collapses, since stressful elements can destabilize this, in general, high self-esteem. They have a low tolerance for failure, which is why they don't cope as well in the face of adversity.

3. Low and stable self-esteem

Low and stable self-esteem is one in which the person always has a negative perception of himself. In this case, stability is negative, since self-esteem is never strong. Even in the face of positive events, they are not able to assess themselves properlybecause they never trust their abilities enough. It is, therefore, a trait closely associated with pessimism and the fear of being rejected, for being insufficient, by other people. They tend to underestimate themselves and have negative dialogues with themselves.

4. Low and unstable self-esteem

Low and unstable self-esteem is one in which the person, although they have a negative perception of themselves most of the time, can raise their self-esteem in the face of positive life circumstances or when they have achieved an achievement or success. The person generally has low self-esteem, but this fluctuates if they feel that things are going well.

In this case, their self-esteem rises, but without being able to be considered "high" due to the instability and the tendency to return to negativity as the euphoria of the moment fades. As extra traits, it should be noted that they are people, in general, easily influenced and who make many decisions based on pleasing others.

5. Strong self-esteem

Strong self-esteem is one that is constant despite other people's situations. Also known as elevated self-esteem, it is based on always having a positive self-perception, an objective self-concept of oneself, and a healthy self-image. In this way, these people manage to overcome obstacles and overcome adversities without allowing them to undermine their self-esteem.

It doesn't have to be especially tall, but it does have to be high enough to be emotionally stable and optimistic. With this strong self-esteem, we are able to start conversations with strangers, we trust ourselves, you always try to have fun, you show yourself as a caring person who knows how to help others, you have control of your emotions and feelings, you have assertiveness, you know your strengths and weaknesses, but you don't let them overshadow your strengths, you feel good about your "self" and you consider yourself the most important person in your life, but not in an egocentric connotation, but to value yourself.

6. Average self-esteem

By average self-esteem we understand that situation in which a person does not have a particularly high self-esteem but not low enough to consider it as a collapsed self-esteem. The person is halfway between the two, so instability tends to reign. She does not have a bad perception of herself, but neither does she have a very good one, so it is likely to be affected by negative life circumstances.

7. Vulnerable self-esteem

Vulnerable self-esteem refers to that in which, as in unstable forms, there is a certain tendency to lose positive self-perception of oneself as soon as a negative event occurs in life. Being more vulnerable and the person is aware of it, often afraid to make decisions or face obstacles, because he knows that at the slightest sign of stress, the fear of making mistakes and doing things wrong, typical of low self-esteem, will appear.

8. Collapsed self-esteem

The collapsed self-esteem is, surely, the most damaging manifestation. It is a chronification of low self-esteem, making the person live constantly undervaluing himself and without the ability to love himself. They are extremely sensitive to criticism and incapable of facing life's obstacles on their own, even feeling ashamed of being who they are. The negative further sinks the self-esteem and the positive hardly increases it. Therefore, in such a situation, seeking professional help is one of the best decisions we can make, because in the long run, it tends to lead to social isolation.

9. Inflated self-esteem

As they say, in excess everything is bad. And self-esteem is no exception. By inflated self-esteem we understand that situation in which the person loves himself excessively and in a way that is harmful not to his well-being, but to relationships with others. With traits of egocentricity and even narcissism, a person with excessive self-esteem will not recognize mistakes, will not accept that they have weaknesses, will be unable to listen and respect the opinions of others and will constantly seek to perceive the admiration of others for their abilities .

Inflated self-esteem is a "pathological" form of it that leads us to belittle others, adopt hostile behaviors and be incapable of self-criticism. Believing ourselves better than the people around us does not bring us anything good at all, because arrogance is a very socially rejected trait.